RESPONDING TO allegations that India is “deliberately causing flooding in Pakistan” in which at least 37 people have died, Delhi on Friday called it “baseless” and said recent increase in flows in the Chenab river is due to “intense monsoon rainfall over Jammu and adjoining catchment areas” in the last four days.At least 37 people have died in rain-related incidents as the ongoing monsoon spell triggered flash floods and landslides, damaging houses, crops, livestock and roads in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan, Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab, Pakistan’s leading daily, Dawn, has reported.The Ministry of External Affairs’ official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, responding to questions on Pakistan’s claims on flooding, said on Friday at the weekly briefing, “Pakistani media reports alleging that India is deliberately causing flooding is baseless and contrary to the facts. The recent increase in flows in the River Chenab is a direct consequence of intense monsoon rainfall over Jammu and adjoining catchment areas during 20–23 July 2026.”Also Read | Rivers rising, BLOs in Punjab’s border areas take boats to meet SIR deadlineHe cited Pakistan’s own data to counter the claims: “Significantly, Pakistan’s own Flood Forecasting Division, Lahore, in its Flood Advisory issued on 22 July 2026 (1718 PST), attributed the high flood levels in the River Chenab to heavy rainfall over the upper catchment and stated that high flows at Marala were expected to persist before gradually receding as rainfall over the catchment decreased.”“The rise in river flows is, therefore, a natural hydrological response to heavy monsoon rainfall and not the result of any deliberate action by India. Attempts to portray a weather-driven flood event as an upstream intervention are factually incorrect, technically untenable, and contradicted by Pakistan’s own official flood advisories,” he said.According to a Pakistani official quoted in Dawn, India had “not provided Pakistan with prior information on upstream river flows”.The MEA spokesperson countered this as well: “As regards allegations relating to flood warnings, the river flows during this period did not reach extraordinary discharge levels requiring the issuance of special flood warnings. The observed flows were consistent with prevailing monsoon conditions over the upper catchments, as acknowledged by Pakistan’s own flood forecasting authorities. Any suggestion that India deliberately withheld flood-related information is, therefore, without factual basis.”Story continues below this ad“Nevertheless, like last year, India will share high-flood data with Pakistan on humanitarian grounds, through diplomatic channels as and when a situation arises,” he said.Responding to questions on the Indus Waters Treaty, the MEA spokesperson said, “India’s position on IWT remains unchanged. IWT will continue to be held in abeyance until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism.” India had kept IWT “in abeyance” since April last year, after the Pahalgam terrorist attack. Shubhajit Roy, Diplomatic Editor at The Indian Express, has been a journalist for more than 25 years now. Roy joined The Indian Express in October 2003 and has been reporting on foreign affairs for more than 17 years now. Based in Delhi, he has also led the National government and political bureau at The Indian Express in Delhi — a team of reporters who cover the national government and politics for the newspaper. He has got the Ramnath Goenka Journalism award for Excellence in Journalism ‘2016. He got this award for his coverage of the Holey Bakery attack in Dhaka and its aftermath. He also got the IIMCAA Award for the Journalist of the Year, 2022, (Jury’s special mention) for his coverage of the fall of Kabul in August 2021 — he was one of the few Indian journalists in Kabul and the only mainstream newspaper to have covered the Taliban’s capture of power in mid-August, 2021. ... Read More Tags:Pakistan